Kittel wins Stage 3, Nibali still in yellow

Kittel wins Stage 3, Nibali still in yellow

<p>Marcel Kittel of Germany won Stage 3 of the Tour de France on Monday and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali remained the overall leader of cycling's most prestigious event after three days of racing in England.</p>

London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcel Kittel of Germany won Stage 3 of the Tour de France on Monday and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali remained the overall leader of cycling's most prestigious event after three days of racing in England.

Kittel completed Monday's 155-kilometer jaunt from Cambridge into London in a time of 3 hours, 38 minutes and 30 seconds for his second stage win of this year's tour. He also won the opening stage on Saturday.

"So far I've won two stages out of three, but I don't have a precise goal in terms of number of victories," said Kittel. "I'll take it day by day. We'll keep working hard with the aim of winning more."

Nibali won Stage 2 on Sunday to grab the coveted yellow jersey as the overall leader and finished Monday with the same time as the stage winner to keep the top spot for a second straight day.

"We have really enjoyed our first day with the yellow jersey," said Nibali. "The race has gone very well for us. I hope to entertain my fans who enjoy seeing me in the yellow jersey, in Italy and elsewhere."

A total of 20 riders are within two seconds of Nibali's overall lead. Included in that large group are defending tour champion Chris Froome of Britain and former winner Alberto Contador of Spain.

Monday's ride was mostly flat and the peloton trailed two breakaway riders -- Jean-Marc Bideau and Jan Barta -- for a majority of the day. Rain was a factor over the last 10 kilometers and Kittel was able to pull away over the last few to outsprint Peter Sagan, claiming his sixth career Tour de France stage win.

"It's really fantastic to win here," added Kittel. "On the finishing line, the crowd was fantastic. I love the atmosphere. This was one of the fastest sprints I've ever done."

Nibali was placed 29th, just behind Froome and six spots ahead of Contador, as a total of 84 riders were credited with the same time as the stage winner.

The tour heads to France on Tuesday for Stage 4, a 163.5-kilometer trek from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage along the northern coast to Lille Metropole.